Benjamin Joseph FRANKLIN

(1839-1898)

FRANKLIN, Benjamin Joseph,
a Representative from Missouri; born in Maysville, Mason County,
Ky., in March 1839; attended private schools, and Bethany College,
Bethany, Va. (now West Virginia), 1849-1851; taught school; studied
law; was admitted to the bar in 1859 and commenced practice in
Leavenworth, Kans.; elected to the State senate of Kansas in 1861,
but due to the outbreak of the Civil War never served; entered the
Confederate Army as a private; was promoted to the rank of captain
and served throughout the Civil War; moved to Columbia, Mo., and
engaged in agricultural pursuits; moved to Kansas City, Mo., in
1868 and resumed the practice of law; prosecuting attorney for
Jackson County, Mo., 1871-1875; elected as a Democrat to the
Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1875-March 3,
1879); chairman, Committee on Territories (Forty-fifth Congress);
was a candidate for renomination, but withdrew; again engaged in
the practice of law in Kansas City, Mo.; appointed United States
consul at Hankow, China, in 1885; returned to the United States in
1890 and settled in Phoenix, Ariz., and engaged in the practice of
law; appointed Governor of the Territory of Arizona and served from
April 18, 1896, to July 29, 1897; died in Phoenix, Ariz., May 18,
1898; interment in Rosedale Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present